The Exchange
by LuluCalliope
Summary: Sequel to SivMeille's The Trade. Continues where the story left off, with Dre and Loman meeting in the tunnel between their worlds. But as their friendship grows stronger, new secrets will be revealed about the past, and Dre and her siblings will be left wondering if they can trust their own father. Co-written with BlackNGreen. Rated T for less sex.
1. Rational

**Note from LuluCalliope: This is the sequel to SivMeille's The Trade. We (fellow writer BlackNGreen and I) have received permission to make this sequel. If you haven't read The Trade, please do, and then come back. Just a head's up: I am extremely cautious of the measures that has been taking against M-rated stories, and I am thinking that this story will be less explicit with sexual descriptions. Also, the graphic relationship that the Beldam had with Coraline in the first story will not be a focus…instead, the main story will be on their children and Loman's affect on them. (Also, SivMeille, BlackNGreen and I do not own the rights to Coraline.)**

Chapter One: Rational

"Dre, is that you?" Coraline's voice echoed throughout the mostly silent house. Bel was downstairs, busy making a special supper: a good Irish stew for their children. It was Dre's favorite. She was the only one who wasn't out playing tag in the garden. Bel was keeping an eye out for them as he cooked—Coraline had wanted to go out and get some fresh air, but Bel insisted that rest was more important. He didn't want for her to leave his sight after the morning sickness has started again, not after all of the dangerous stunts she pulled during her second pregnancy during their brief separation. He still shuddered to think of what could have happened if she had remained trapped in the well with two of their children.

Coraline sighed as she ran a hand lovingly over her stomach. She kept hearing the light pound of her daughter's footsteps from earlier. Dre had stormed out, crying hysterically. Coraline frowned. They had been fighting a lot lately…even more than she had when she was in the "real world". And it was the real world that had been the cause of their last argument: Dre had expressed a desire to go into the real world and find other friends, children her age. Coraline refused, not wanting for her—or any of her children—to encounter any dark secrets or unfamiliar faces. It would only make things more painful.

But Dre had vanished. Coraline resigned herself to the idea that her daughter was out in the gardens, choosing to sulk instead of play with her younger siblings. It was a rational, logical thought…not one as irrational as the mere suggestion of going into the real world.

* * *

Dre stared up at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts. Even in the dark, she could see the polka-dot pattern of her wallpaper. The comforting shapes did nothing to soothe her nerves. She had always been rebellious, but this was, by far, one of the worst things that she had ever done…and one of the riskiest ones.

She reached a verdict. She grabbed an old blue blanket from the foot of her bed, wrapped it around her shoulders, and crept to the door. She pressed her ear against it, listening. She expected to hear her mother's light, whistling snore from down the hall. But instead—

"Oh, for Pete's sake," she groaned, using an old saying of her mother's. There was no use in trying to be quiet now—her parents were wide awake. She yanked open the door and stormed down the hall to her parents' room. She rapped on the door sharply. "Keep it down in there!" There was a shocked silence broken only by muffled, sheepish giggles. Dre rolled her eyes and walked away. Her parents had a very…passionate relationship, and Dre was used to overhearing and interrupting their lovemaking. She was more annoyed by it now than she was disgusted.

As she reached her destination, she made sure to step on all of the creaky floorboards leading to her room, but not the ones after it. Her brothers' room was past hers. They were probably asleep by now, but they wouldn't mind being woken up if she had a good reason for it. And she had a very, very good reason indeed.

She pushed the door open silently, but the boys woke up immediately. "Dre, is that you?" One of them yawned—she couldn't tell which one it was in the dark. They looked too similar, and she could never remember which one slept in the top bunk and which one slept in the bottom one.

"What time is it?"

"What are you doing in here?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Shut up, you guys," she growled, closing the door and pouncing onto the bottom bunk—the twins had bunk beds. She was envious of their pretty cool bedroom, and she often hung out in it just to be around the beds. In spite of the number of times she had visited their room, she could never remember which twin slept in which bunk.

"What's going on?" The one reclining on the bottom bunk asked and Dre could see which twin it was now that she was closer to him. It was Bonaventure…his hair was darker and black. Belmiele had blue hair that glowed in a certain light.

"Can you—?" She was interrupted when the door was pushed open. She held her breath, expecting to see the willowy figure of her mother in the hall. She exhaled a sigh of relief when her sisters stepped into the room: slight Pandora Belsole and tiny Belva Lumina.

"Why aren't you guys in bed?" She asked softly, hugging her legs to her chest.

"Why aren't you?" Pan shot back, and Dre smiled. She didn't see the harm in letting them in on her little secret as well…

"Dre, I'm scared. I don't like monsters," Elva admitted, and Dre scooted over to make room for her sisters.

"Well, do you want to hear a secret?" She asked softly. "It might scare away the monsters. They hate secrets."

"Secret, what is it?" Belmiele—the lazier of the two—was awake now, and he swung his head over the side of the bed, staring down at his siblings with big dark eyes. Dre laughed to herself.

"Alright, I'll tell you all. But you have to promise that you won't tell Mom and Dad. Got it?"

"Okay, we promise," they all chorused, and Dre pulled them all in closer.

"I went to the real world today."

* * *

_Translations/Meanings of Names:  
Bonaventure Lerato: Good Luck, Song of my Soul  
Belmiele Charlie: Named after Italian hero in story and his maternal grandfather  
Pandora Belsole: Named after goddess of curiosity and Italian heroine  
Belva Lumina: Beautiful View, Of the Light_

_Don't forget to review! :)_


	2. Rude

**Note from LuluCalliope: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! You all rock! By the way, I have decided that it would be too confusing to have a child with the nickname Bel, so Belmiele is known as the "junior" of the family. I know it's corny…but try working with me here. Ha, ha, ha…anyway, here's more family drama!**

Chapter Two: Rude

Breakfast was a silent affair in the Beldam-Jones Household. The family of seven (eight, if you included the baby in Coraline's stomach) ate in the dining room. The seating arrangements were normal: Coraline at the head of the table, Bel opposite her, three children on her right, two on her left. The only thing that she wasn't accustomed to was seeing her oldest daughter glare at her. Back in the real world, Coraline had received these stares from her mother on many occasions. But having them directed at her from her daughter was a new experience. All of the other children were oddly quiet, too. They picked at their food and occasionally looked up to glance at either Dre or their parents.

"Everyone's been so quiet today," Bel remarked, watching his family eat. He still found regular food disgusting, but he liked watching his family eat. He got to spend more time with them this way.

"We're just thinking about the new baby," Pan told him, and Coraline and Bel exchanged a small smile. But Dre scowled, and her mother noticed.

"Is something wrong, honey?" She asked gently after a while.

Dre scowled. "Isn't it a little late to be having another baby?" She wondered aloud, surprising everyone with her matter-of-fact manner.

"Deirdre Mel, that is very impolite," her father scolded. "You never ask adults questions like that."

"Why?" She asked stubbornly.

"You just don't!" He stuttered, not sure of how to answer it himself.

"In answer to your question…" Coraline stood up and walked over to the other side of the table. She stood behind Bel and placed her hands on his shoulders. They looked picture perfect together. "Daddy isn't getting any younger, and I'm not as old as you think. I can still have a child or two if I want to."

"Whatever," Dre grumbled, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "I'm going outside," she announced.

"Don't forget to wear a sweater," Coraline reminded her as she stormed out.

"You're not the boss of me!" She called back before the front door slammed. Coraline sighed.

"Hey, who wants to play a game?" She asked the remaining children.

"I do!" Elva cried, clapping her hands together eagerly.

"Well, there's only one rule: you don't stop until this table is cleared and all of the dishes are in the dishwasher." Junior and his youngest sister groaned, but Bon just shrugged and got to work. It only took him about two minutes—having inherited some of his father's "gifts" really helped out. All of his other siblings had the powers to, but they weren't as quick to control them as he was.

"Can we go play outside, too?" Pan asked hopefully.

"Get dressed first," Bel said, and the children ran upstairs. Dre was still wearing a nightgown when she wandered outside.

"I honestly don't know where she gets it," Coraline complained.

"Gets what, dearest? She reminds me so much of you did when you were her age," Bel commented, and Coraline smiled at him.

"There is something that I wanted to do today," she told him.

"What?"

"I'll show you once we're alone," she hinted, and Bel grinned…

* * *

Outside, Dre ran through the garden, stepping on all of the flowers that were in her path. She was still cranky about not being allowed into the real world, and she was still unsure of how to feel about yet another baby. Her siblings were good friends, but she didn't want for them to be her only friends. She wished that her mom could understand that. Her father certainly didn't…to him, the tiny door between their worlds was a mouse trap, and the "evil parents" that they lured to them were food. But nothing could leave their world. He was so protective of her and the rest of the family.

Dre looked around the garden. Her rampage had destroyed plenty of plants, and she felt slightly satisfied with her handiwork. She knew that her brothers and sisters would be joining her soon, and she had to make the most of the time she had left to herself. She left the garden and walked around the house, just looking at everything. Downstairs there was a theater. Her father sometimes put on plays and magic shows for the little kids, but Elva and Coraline were the only ones who seemed to enjoy them nowadays. Everyone else was learning to make magic of their own. Most of the house was where she lived, and she thought that she knew everything about it…but what was in the apartment upstairs? Coraline and Bel called it "the attic", but they never said what was in it, only that the children shouldn't go up there. "I don't even go up there," Coraline once admitted to Dre and the twins. She had been pregnant with Pan at the time.

And Dre had never been up there because she had never wanted to upset her mother. But…after seeing how happy Coraline had been over breakfast, how easily she had refused her daughter freedom between worlds…Dre wanted to hurt her by disobeying her orders. What better way to do that than by satisfying the curiosity that nagged her for as long as she lived? Smiling to herself, Dre closed her eyes and transformed. Her body slouched over and she sprouted four more legs. If she was going to do this, she had to do it quietly. And she found that she could move with much more stealth in the form of a spider.

Once transformed, she scurried up the walls of the house, paying attention to her shadow, which she made sure wasn't casting any odd shapes through the windows. She moved quickly and silently, and she reached her destination in no time. She stood outside of the attic room, eyeing the door warily. She banished all final doubts from her mind, and yanked the door open. It creaked loudly, and Dre froze, sure that somebody would have heard her. After a few minutes, she was sure that she hadn't been discovered. She wandered inside, looking around cautiously. Nothing was in here…at least, nothing that she could see. No light shone through the windows, and what did didn't help her vision. She could sense movement around her, but she, oddly enough, wasn't afraid of it. Her father had assured her on many occasions that she wouldn't be hurt, not as long as he was around. And she believed him. Why should she doubt him now?

Oh, yes…she was in the one room that he had told her not to enter under any circumstances. She was beginning to have second thoughts about that. She decided that now would be the best time to go…but was this whole exploration for nothing? Dre groped around her surroundings, trying to find something exciting, something of interest to show the others. And she felt something thick and leathery: a book. She snatched it in her hands, and immediately realized that it had been stacked on top of another book. She grabbed that one, too, and felt something firm and hard touch her shoulder. She jumped about a foot in the air.

"_Thief, thief, give it back, you thief_!" Two high-pitched voices screamed in her ears, and Dre panicked, dashing towards the door. Glowing red eyes seemed to stare at her from all directions, and she heard the fluttering of wings above her. Was the house bat-infested? She came to a stop as her path was blocked by an oddly shaped figure. She paused in her steps, panting.

"_You shouldn't have disobeyed Mother_," the figure scolded, and Dre really lost it. Was this some sort of weird security system that her parents had invented specifically for her and her siblings? The figure stepped closer, practically drooling, and Dre charged towards it. The figure, startled, leapt out of the way, and Dre made her escape, slamming the door to the attic, not caring if anyone heard the resulting bang of wood hitting wood.

She leaned against the door, gasping for air. She closed her eyes and morphed back into her regular human form. Then she gathered her wits and looked at the books she held. The good news was that she had escaped with them, her parents hadn't heard her, and that the only damage done to her personally was a small cut on her left knee. The bad news was that she didn't have enough time to get more items from the forbidden room.

Be that as it may, it was still enough.

* * *

"Oh, look, you cut your knee!" Coraline fussed later that evening, looking at Dre's wound. They were all in the family room, sitting in front of the fireplace. The boys were engaged in a staring contest, Pan was reading a book, and Elva was playing with a music box that she had received from her father for her previous birthday. Coraline and Bel had been sewing, making outfits for the next addition to their growing family, and they had seen Dre's knee.

"I was running through the garden and fell down," she lied, mentally smacking herself for not trying to hide her injury. She had been staring at the roaring fire, watching the colorful flames dance together, thinking about the two books that were hidden under her mattress upstairs. "I'm okay," she added when her mom opened her mouth to say something else.

"What's upstairs?" Elva suddenly asked, and her parents exchanged a glance and Dre stiffened. How could Elva have possibly known about her expedition to the attic?

Bel coughed. "Why do you want to know, sweetie?"

"I heard something moving up there," she answered innocently. "Was it a mouse?"

"Yes, yes it was," Coraline said firmly. "But don't go up there. Mice are gross, and I don't want them in the house."

"Who wants to hear a story?" Dre asked, deciding to change the subject. The other children perked up and followed their sister upstairs to her bedroom. Once in there, she closed the door and locked it.

"Dad said that we aren't allowed to lock the doors," Bon reminded her.

"Well, if it bothers him so much, he can use his magic and unlock the doors," she scoffed. "Besides, he's not here right now. What he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?" She winked at them, and then grinned.

"I still can't believe you went into the real world," Bon muttered. "And you didn't take us!"

"Do you want to go?" She asked sweetly. She wasn't one who was big on doing nice things for her brothers and sisters, but she knew that it would be best if they were in on the secret. That way they could cover for her if she got in trouble. And if she was going to be punished, she was going to take them with her.

"Yes!" The others chanted, and Dre nodded.

"Loman and I agreed to meet in there tomorrow afternoon," she announced. "We'll all go into the tunnel and you can meet him in there. But I'll take you only if you promise me that you can keep another secret."

"Another secret," Bon echoed in disbelief.

"What is it?" Junior asked excitedly.

Dre walked over to her bed, slipped her hand under the mattress, and pulled out the two books she had stolen earlier. They were nearly identical except for the covers: one was blue, the other was black. "Guess where I got these?"

"I don't know, where?" Elva said eagerly.

"The attic," she responded triumphantly, and her siblings gasped.

"Mom and Dad said that we—"

"What they don't know won't hurt them," she reminded Bon. "And if you do tell them, you'll get in trouble, too."

"Why didn't you take me with you?" Pan pouted. "I've wanted to go in there for-EVER."

"I know, I'm sorry," her older sister apologized. "It was a kind of spur-of-the-moment thing. But seriously," she paused. "DO NOT GO IN THERE. It's full of…I don't know."

"Full of monsters?" Elva asked in horror.

"More or less," Dre nodded, and Elva resolved to never, ever, under any circumstances, forget what her sister had told her.

"What's in the books?" Pan wondered.

"I haven't looked at them yet," Dre admitted. "We can look at them tomorrow with Loman. I think that our secrets should become his secrets." The others nodded in agreement before retiring to their respective rooms. Dre fell asleep shortly afterwards, but woke up many times during the night on top of her lumpy mattress.

She never once noticed a pair of haunting blue-green eyes staring in at her through the window.

* * *

_Review, please! :)_


	3. Resemblence

**Note from LuluCalliope: Thanks for all the reviews! Everybody is awesome! :) Here's a Loman chapter!**

Chapter Three: Resemblance

Loman Lovat smiled his content as he walked down the path that would take him to his tree house. He had cleaned his room, dusted, fed the fish, cleared the tables, emptied the wastebaskets, and done so much more to help out. He was exhausted, and the tree house would help him escape.

He loved his little hideout so much. His father had built it for him as a birthday present when he was six years old. It was in such a lonely, lovely place, in a large tree on top of a hill. He had a great view of a well. "It's so deep, that if you fell down and looked up, you'd see a sky full of stars in the middle of the day," his dad once told him. Loman hadn't believed him, but Wybie only chuckled. "The human eye is very sharp," he said, tousling his son's already unruly brown hair.

Loman spent all of his free time down there, often reading books and taking photos of absolutely nothing. Sometimes snails crawled into the tree house. He had about a dozen pictures of them, and he had given them all names. There were at least four photos of the well, one during each time of the year. Loman noticed that it wasn't sunny by his tree house, and it was always wet and cloudy, but it never seemed to rain as much as it should have. If it did, there would have been a lot more flowers growing nearby.

He climbed up into the small room and looked around. He decided that today he would make a list of everything that he had inside the tree house. If something went missing, he would be sure to notice it, then. The funny thing was, even Loman didn't know everything about the tree house. His dad did, being the one who built it. But Loman was determined to know just as much as his father did, and what better place to start than here?

One thing that he didn't know was the exact number of books that he kept up in the trees with him. He had read them all at least once, but he never kept track of them. He crawled over to the bookshelf, which was built into the wall, and scooped all of the contents up, in his arms. He then stacked them in a neat tower of paper, and began writing their titles down on a piece of paper. Most of them were cutesy little picture books, the kind that his mom would read to him before he went to bed at night. But there were a few larger books…including one with no title. Had he read this one before? If he had, he certainly couldn't remember doing so. Loman examined it, realizing that it was a photo album. He opened it up, and a small piece of paper fell out. He recovered it and looked at it.

It was a picture of two young girls with adorable braided hair and old-fashioned dresses. One of them cradled a doll in her arms. The picture was labeled _Louisa and Lydia Laurence, aged ten_. "Great-Grandma Louisa," Loman realized. He never knew she had a twin sister! He eagerly flipped to the first page in the book, only to find that there were baby photos of his father instead, and no more pictures of the twins. And for a while, there were only pictures of Wybie and his grandmother.

Then there were pictures of a moving van outside of the Pink Palace and of his father—probably no more than ten—hanging out with a bluenette girl who all of the labels named Coraline Jones.

Loman dropped the book and scurried backwards, away from it, almost as if he were afraid that the book would bite him. Coraline Jones was the name of the girl that had gone missing, the daughter of Old Mel and Charlie Jones. He knew that, but he never knew that his father actually knew the girl in person.

The next few pages were covered of photos of Wybie and Coraline doing absolutely nothing. Sometimes they'd be playing with banana slugs, other times they'd be punching each other in the shoulder, and in one or two of them they were playing with a scrawny black cat that had no collar.

As time went on, they were joined by another person: Kate, Loman's mother. He noticed that in the pictures with Kate, Coraline's smile seemed to be more forced. She looked happy, but a little annoyed and sad at having a third person present. Eventually, Coraline stopped showing up in the pictures altogether, and Kate and Wybie were the stars, shown going on dates and doing all sorts of sweet, mushy romantic stuff. That was pretty boring, but the first newspaper article in the album wasn't. It announced the disappearance of Coraline Jones, and for a while, Coraline was the star of the book. Loman recognized his father's handwriting on several pages. He had scribbled small notes like, _No word from her yet. _Had he known where Coraline had vanished to? Why didn't he do anything? Loman wondered, for one awful moment, if his father had been involved in the kidnapping, and then shook his head no. That wasn't possible, not when he was in so many photos of the sweet blue-haired girl. He wouldn't do anything totally bad to his own friend.

And then a new article declared that Coraline had been found, having escaped from the man who had kept her in captivity for nine months. Her description of the kidnapper answered Loman's doubts over his father's role in the girl's disappearance. Coraline had described the man who had kept her in captivity as being "really tall, and kind of thin, with black hair and eyes and a sharp nose and thin lips". She had reunited with her parents. There was a photo of her, Wybie, and Kate standing outside of their high school, all looking despondent over something. Loman noticed that Coraline's body had changed…she looked like she had put on some weight. For a while, she went on with her life, going to school and spending time with Wybie and Kate…but then another clip from a newspaper informed readers that she had gone missing again. Wybie had written on this page in capital letters: _DOOR_. Loman blinked in confusion. What door was he talking about?

There was nothing more written about Coraline.

And taking up all of one page was his father embracing his mother outside of a church. He was wearing a fine suit; she was covered in frothy white lace and satin. Following that, there were baby photos of Loman. He stopped reading there, and clutched the book to his chest, thinking hard. He had learned so much now…and he didn't know what to do with this knowledge. But one thing seemed clear: his father hadn't built the tree house as a hideout for his son. It had been made to hide his secrets and past away from the world. A part of Loman was angry. Did his father really think that he wouldn't discover this book? This was his tree house. But another part was curious. He had to know more about Coraline's history…

Then he remembered something that Dre, the little girl that he had met in the tunnel yesterday, had said. Her name was Deirdre Beldam-_Jones_. Was this…the daughter of the missing girl? Loman gasped. Was the missing girl alive and on the other side of the passageway? He shook his head. No, no, that was silly. There had to be a more logical explanation. He would get this all straightened up in no time at all.

He held the book under his arm as he descended from the tree house. He ran with it all the way to his house, and once he got there, he ran up the stairs to his room, slammed the door, and hid the book underneath a messy stack of comic books.

"Loman Lovat, are you slamming doors?" His mother called up crossly.

"Not anymore," he responded, biting his lip with worry. He had to show the book to Dre…somebody had to know about it, and if he couldn't tell his parents, he had to tell Dre. And besides, sharing secrets was part of being a friend.

* * *

_Review, please! :)_


	4. Relatives

**Note from LuluCalliope: Thanks for all the reviews! Woodswolf, you make me smile every time I read one of yours! Thank you!**

Chapter Four: Relatives

Loman crawled into the tunnel, which had been altered since he last was there. Now the strange objects were missing from the wall, and instead had been covered in a velvety, metallic blue fabric. "Dre, are you here?" He called out softly.

"Yes," her soft voice echoed back. "Are you alone?"

"I am," he said. He had told his parents that he would be spending the day at a friend's house studying. They were surprised that he was suddenly showing an interest in school, but thought nothing of it. "Are you?"

"Sort of," she responded, and Loman entered the tunnel. The two children met in the middle of it, and Loman saw that other children were with her, watching Loman closely.

"They wanted to meet you," she explained. "These are my brothers and sisters."

"I kind of figured that out," he replied, noticing that one of the boys and the youngest girl had blue hair and the others had black. Dre laughed.

"You can tell us apart by our hair color, obviously," the bluenette boy beamed, referring to him and his twin brother. The other boy had black hair. "But close your eyes for a second." Loman obeyed, and when he was told to open them, he was shocked to see both boys with black hair. "How'd you do that?" He asked the boy sitting closest to him in amazement.

Both boys looked as shocked as Loman felt. "How'd you know it was me?" The blue-haired boy wondered, his hair returning to its previous state.

"A magician never reveals his secrets," Loman joked.

"Then don't expect us to share ours," the black-haired boy said seriously.

"Guys, be nice," Dre warned. She turned to Loman with an apologetic smile. "That's Bon, and he's Junior," she said, pointing to the blue-haired boy and his brother respectively. "And we'll tell you how he did it later. But it's really hard to explain."

"It isn't if you listen to Dad," the ten-year-old girl interrupted softly. She had long black hair that fell to her shoulders, and wide dark eyes that stared at Loman in wonder. "I'm Pan," she introduced herself, offering a wry smile. "And I know who you are."

"Pan knows everything," the smallest girl announced.

"She doesn't know what's in the books that I brought," her oldest sister retorted.

"You don't either," Pan pointed out neutrally. "And we all will soon enough."

"I'm Elva!" The tiny girl said loudly, giggling a little too loudly. Her blue hair was very long, and it brushed against her back like a cape. Her facial features were a little too sharp for someone as young as her, and she looked sweet, but not angelic. Her eyes were big and green.

"What are in those books?" Loman said, pointing to the items in Dre's arms.

"Good question," she replied, shifting so that she could lie on her stomach and look at the books once they were open. "I found them in the attic yesterday."

"If Dad finds out that we were in there, we're going to be in so much trouble," Bon complained.

"Get over it," she scoffed. "Where's your sense of adventure, Bon_aventure_?"

"At home," he said, anxiously glancing back down the tunnel to where they had come from.

"Do you guys live alone back there?" Loman asked, peering over their shoulders curiously.

"It's just us and Mom and Dad," Dre said casually, preparing to open one of the books. "And Mom's gonna have a baby."

"Do you know what the gender is?" He asked, thinking about the sibling that he would have soon. It was going to be a girl, and his parents wanted her to have the first initial "L". Some of the possible names included: Lolita, Lucia, Lilac, Laura…

"It's going to be a boy," Elva declared.

"It's going to be a girl," Junior announced. The two siblings engaged in a staring contest, which Loman decided to break by showing them what he had brought along.

"Look what I found yesterday in my tree house. Doesn't this girl look familiar?" He said, trying to sound silly. He handed Dre the photo of Coraline, and her eyes widened.

"That's our mom!" She gasped. "Where did you get this?"

"Is she named Coraline Jones?" Loman said as the photo was passed from his friend to her younger siblings.

"Yes! How do you know all this?" Pan asked, her eyes growing wide with excitement.

"She's been missing from my world for…many years," he said weakly, slumping against the wall. "Everyone thinks that she ran back to the man who kidnapped and…well, held her prisoner." He almost mentioned the part about the alleged rape, but decided not to in front of Elva, who probably didn't know what the concept of murder was.

"That's nonsense," Pan declared. "Mom has never been in the real world before…has she?" Dre's face was as white as a sheet, and Loman reached over and touched her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"I looked in the books last night," she confessed in a hoarse, and Junior glared at her. Loman blinked. Had he missed something?

"You promised that you wouldn't open it without us there!" Junior said angrily.

"I couldn't resist," she admitted. "And…Mom was lying to us. She's been in the real world before."

"What are you talking about?" Loman demanded. "This doesn't make sense! What do you mean 'the real world'?" The Beldam-Jones children glanced at each other.

"Let's just take him back home," Pan shrugged. "He's going to find out sooner or later."

"When did you last eat?" Dre asked, ignoring Loman intentionally. "I don't need to for another two years."

"Me, too," the others chorused, and Loman's face scrunched up in confusion. This day was getting weirder and weirder.

"Dad's going to—"

"Shut up, Bon," Elva ordered playfully. Then Dre's face lit up.

"I learned something new from reading this book," she said slowly and dramatically. "Wait here. I have an idea." She scrambled back down to her end of the tunnel, leaving Loman and her sisters and brothers behind.

"What do you mean? What's going on?" Loman complained.

"I'm not going to eat you," Elva giggled. "None of us are." Pan smacked her lightly on the arm.

"We don't eat children," she said in a reassuring voice. "That's the rule: we only eat people that are older than us."

"Oh, joy," he said. "That makes PERFECT sense," he added sarcastically, "just like you being able to change your hair color."

"I'll explain that if you tell me how you figured me out," Junior reminded him.

"But it wasn't too difficult. You two don't look anything alike if you look closely." This was true. Junior had a slightly fuller face and a small nose. Bon had sharper features and a longer, bonier nose, and his skin was slightly paler.

"Mom says that we look exactly alike," Bon said solemnly.

"Parents aren't always right," Loman said, more to himself than to them. He felt a light tap on his shoulder, and turned to find…Dre grinning at him. He jumped and bashed his head on the ceiling of the tunnel.

"You scared me!" He shrieked, rubbing his sore head.

"Sorry," she hissed, clamping a hand over his mouth. "Be quiet, or our parents will hear you!" She removed her hand slowly, but Loman continued to gape.

"How did you get behind me? Is this some kind of joke?"

"No. I'll show you!" She grabbed his arm and started to lead him out of the tunnel.

"Why can't you just tell me?" He whined.

"Seeing is believing," Pan said, quoting her mother. They stepped out of the tunnel and into the real living room of the real Pink Palace. Dre shut the door after all of her siblings climbed out.

Another door had appeared next to the one that connected their 'worlds'. "How'd you do that?" Junior asked, his voice betraying his envy. His sister ignored him and opened the new door, which had a nearly identical tunnel inside of it. Loman got the eerie feeling that whatever was at the end of this tunnel was at the end of the first one, too.

"I'll explain when we get there," Dre said, slipping into the new tunnel. She didn't crawl away from them, but sat there, smiling at Loman. "Shall we go?" She asked cordially, holding out a hand for him. Loman stared at her, unsure of what to think or what to do.

* * *

_Review, please! :)_


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